Thursday, August 23

AGL starts work on Sydney coal seam gas well

THE first coal seam gas production well approved under the O'Farrell government is being drilled by energy company AGL on the edge of Sydney, about 40 metres from the banks of the Nepean River.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority and Campbelltown City Council voiced concerns about water contamination during the planning process and the company's environmental assessment warned that ''deep aquifers could cross-contaminate shallow aquifers during drilling''.

The drilling was still approved by the Planning Assessment Commission and started two weeks ago near the Menangle Park Paceway, without a public consultation process.

AGL said the concerns voiced by the company's environmental consultants and the EPA were addressed during the planning negotiations.

''Independent sources have confirmed that there are no expected impacts to beneficial aquifers,'' a spokeswoman said. Evidence from other wells in the district suggests previous drilling had not damaged aquifers and the Planning Department had accepted this, she said.

The aquifers are underground bodies of water sandwiched between layers of sandstone and drilling through these layers to get to the gas can potentially fracture them, causing fresh and dirty water to mingle.

The company's spokeswoman claimed AGL had to push on, otherwise NSW could run out of gas.

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The Black Cockatoo Blog is an open forum and news service about Coal Seam Gas Mining, not just in Australia but all over the world. From time to time we will post articles that may not relate fully, but will have some relevance.

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